Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Reva Gupta, Tshoki Choden and Larry Schwartz collected soil from Bhutan in June of 2008. I sent Reva a soil bottle necklace containing all the soils collected since 2003. Asking her later if she had any reactions from friends about the necklace, she responded :

"I have gotten lots of comments about the necklace. Most of all people think it is super cool, a little piece of the entire world. I was asked once if I felt connected to the rest of the world while wearing the necklace. People also really like the concept of mixing the soil, although that lead to a criticism as well, where someone noted that the uniqueness of each sample is destroyed when it is mixed---people really talk about it like they talk about immigration and the experience of being an immigrant. All these cultures brought to one place and so much of the uniqueness of each culture is lost. I counter that to say that something new is created."

Friday, July 5, 2013

The Iran collection was completed by Mehdi Zahedi on July 23, 2004. Gathering the earth was easy----getting it back was not. Besides the usual USDA soil permits, I was required to apply for a license from the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control to bring the dirt to the U.S.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Nehal collecting soil from Tahrir Square on February 26th 2011. Tahrir Square experienced the protests that lead to Mubarek's exit. The area today is still troubled-- this time over Morsi.click here for complete journal